What’s New in iOS 11

I always find it helpful to sum up what’s new in a release, and I can never remember where to find such documents once a release has happened.

So here it is, Apple’s “biggest and best ever release”, iOS 11.

General changes

iOS 11 requires Xcode 9+ to develop your apps. It is the first major release to drop support for 32 bit binaries. The following devices are supported in iOS 11:

iPhone 5s and above

iPad Air and above

iPhone 5, 5c and lower are no longer supported

iPad 4 and below are no longer supported

This release also drops native support for integrated services such as Vimeo, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.

The iCloud Drive app is removed and replaced with the new Files app.

New frameworks we can tinker with are:

ARKit for Augmented Reality (requires devices with A9 chip and above)

Core ML for Machine Learning (identifying shapes in images, or words in sentences)

Depth API to access the dual cameras on iPhone 7, 8 and X

Core NFC for (limited) access to the NFC chip in most devices

From the upgrade dialogue on iOS devices

iOS 11 brings hundreds of new features to iPhone and iPad including an all new App Store, a more proactive and intelligent Siri, improvements to Camera and Photos, and augmented reality technologies to enable immersive experiences.

iOS 11 is also the biggest release for iPad ever and adds powerful new multitasking features, a new Files app and more ways to use Apple Pencil.

App Store

All-new App Store designed for discovering great apps and games everyday

New Today tab helps you discover new apps and games with stories, how-to guides, and more

New Games tab to find new games and see what’s most popular with top game charts